Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts;

And see if there be any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

(Psalm 139:23-24 ASV)

It is good to regularly take time to examine the Bible, but it is far better to let the Bible take time to regularly examine us. The former gives us knowledge of the scriptures that can puff us up. The later gives us knowledge of ourselves that humbles us, opening the door to repentance and the building-up that is of God. The former happens as we read and study the scriptures. The later happens afterwards as we take time to meditate on what we have read and studied.

The Bible is not a religious textbook or doctrinal repository. It is the word of God: living, active, powerful. It has the power to probe our minds, our hearts, our inmost being (Hebrews 4:12). But the benefit is only experienced by those who submit to its scrutiny

This examination of the scriptures is usually painful. Knowing this, I don’t let God’s word examine me as often as I should. I expect this is due to fear of what it will reveal. A quote from The Neverending Story comes to mind:

“Confronted by their true selves, most men run away, screaming!”

I already know there’s bad stuff deep inside me, but I’m comfortable keeping this knowledge as general or theoretical as can be. I don’t want to be confronted with the specifics. However, avoiding the doctor for fear of his diagnosis of cancer will do serious harm if there really is cancer. There can be no cure without there first being a diagnosis.

Regardless of how God’s word makes me feel, it is always a good thing to submit to His probing of the deeper recesses of my heart. How else can those fleshly strongholds I’m only vaguely aware of be fully revealed in all their ugliness and torn down? It is those very areas that have hindered my walk with the Lord since I’ve known Him. Why should I let them continue to hinder God’s will for me?

In the following posts I’d like to share a few of these painful, probing scripture passages that have been on my mind lately. You will probably find them very familiar and not painful at all, especially if you just give them a quick read-through and forget about them. But the more I let them examine me, the clearer I see the true condition of my heart. I find myself becoming more desperate for the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to work in me God’s cure.

Another relevant post: Two Signposts for Diagnosing Your Heart (michaelkelleyministries.com)